Prague Daily Monitor: Protests to Accompany Wen Jiabao's Visit

(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong practitioners want to highlight the persecution and arrests of their counterparts in Communist China during the forthcoming visit of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to the Czech Republic, the Czech Falun Gong Association activists told CTK today.

The 24-hour appeal will start before the Chinese Embassy on Thursday at noon.

They want to call on Wen Jiabao to help end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Czech Falun Gong Association has also asked Czech politicians not to forget the abuse of human rights in their talks with Wen Jiabao.

"To improve the situation in the sphere of human rights and Czech-Chinese economic relations requires significant courage, but in this respect, your justice would be much appreciated by people in the whole world," writes the letter sent to President Vaclav Klaus.

There are some 30-40 Czech Falun Gong practitioners.

In 1999, the Communist regime launched a campaign against Falun Gong which, as human rights activists say, lasts until present.

"In the inhuman campaign, over 2780 Falun Gong practitioners have been beaten or tortured to death, while Chinese sources say that the figure may be nine times higher. Tens of thousands of women, men and children are being imprisoned in labor camps, where they are daily tortured and humiliated," the Czech Falun Gong Association said today.

Human rights abuse in China will also be highlighted by Amnesty International and Olympic Watch during Wen Jiabao's visit on Wednesday.